Graham spoke out against [[Rand Paul]] and those that stood with him, following the filibuster. He said, "To my Republican colleagues, I don’t remember any of you coming down here suggesting that President Bush was going to kill anybody with a drone, do you? They had a drone program back then, all of a sudden this drone program has gotten every Republican so spun up. What are we up to here?"<ref name=filibuster>[http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/john-mccain-lindsey-graham-blast-rand-paul-filibuster-88564.html?hp=l3 ''Politico,'' "Rand Paul filibuster blasted by Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham," March 7, 2013]</ref>

Graham spoke out against [[Rand Paul]] and those that stood with him, following the filibuster. He said, "To my Republican colleagues, I don’t remember any of you coming down here suggesting that President Bush was going to kill anybody with a drone, do you? They had a drone program back then, all of a sudden this drone program has gotten every Republican so spun up. What are we up to here?"<ref name=filibuster>[http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/john-mccain-lindsey-graham-blast-rand-paul-filibuster-88564.html?hp=l3 ''Politico,'' "Rand Paul filibuster blasted by Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham," March 7, 2013]</ref>

+

+

===Senate Conservative Fund target===

+

The Senate Conservative Fund targeted Graham in August 2013 with two weeks of radio ads designed to push Senate Republicans to support Utah's [[Mike Lee]]'s effort to defund Obamacare.<ref>[http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/318217-senate-conservatives-fund-targets-isakson-with-latest-defund-obamacare-ad ''The Hill'', "Senate Conservatives Fund targets Isakson with latest 'defund ObamaCare' ad," August 22, 2013]</ref>

2011-2012

Issues

Gang of Eight

Graham is a member of the group of senators deemed the "Gang of Eight." This term is used to reference eight of the most influential Senators on immigration reform and includes four senators from each party.[3] The group calls for comprehensive and bipartisan immigration legislation that includes their "four basic pillars":

1. A “tough but fair path to citizenship . . . .contingent upon securing our borders and tracking whether legal immigrants have left the country as required”;

4. Setting up a system for admitting future workers (although the term “guest worker” is not used).[4]

Senate Judiciary Committee

Graham was first appointed to the Senate Judiciary Committee shortly after he was sworn in in January of 2003. Graham has continued South Carolina's long streak of representation on the Senate Judiciary Committee after Strom Thurmond's death in 2003. Thurmond served on the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1967 till his death.[5]

Senator Graham also serves on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs as the Republican Ranking Member, and serves on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittees on the Constitution and Administrative Oversight and the Courts. [6]

Fiscal Cliff

Graham voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. The bill was passed in the Senate by a 89/8 vote on January 1, 2013.[7]

Drone filibuster

On March 6, 2013, Senator Rand Paul (R) led a 13-hour filibuster of President Obama's CIA Director nominee, John Brennan. Paul started the filibuster in order to highlight his concerns about the administration's drone policies. In particular, Paul said he was concerned about whether a drone could be used to kill an American citizen within the United States border, without any due process involved. Paul and other civil liberties activists have been critical that President Obama did not offer a clear response to the question. A total of 14 senators joined Paul in the filibuster -- 13 Republicans and one Democrat.[8][9][10]

Graham spoke out against Rand Paul and those that stood with him, following the filibuster. He said, "To my Republican colleagues, I don’t remember any of you coming down here suggesting that President Bush was going to kill anybody with a drone, do you? They had a drone program back then, all of a sudden this drone program has gotten every Republican so spun up. What are we up to here?"[11]

Senate Conservative Fund target

The Senate Conservative Fund targeted Graham in August 2013 with two weeks of radio ads designed to push Senate Republicans to support Utah's Mike Lee's effort to defund Obamacare.[12]

Elections

Full history

To view the full congressional electoral history for Lindsey Graham, click [show] to expand the section.

2008

On November 4, 2008, Graham won re-election to the United States Senate. He defeated Bob Conley in the general election.[13]

U.S. Senate, South Carolina General Election, 2008

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Republican

Lindsey GrahamIncumbent

57.7%

1,076,534

Democratic

Bob Conley

42.3%

790,621

Total Votes

1,867,155

2002

On November 5, 2002, Lindsey Graham won election to the United States Senate. He defeated Alex Sanders (D), Victor Kocher (L), Ted Adams (T) and Write-In in the general election.[14]

U.S. Senate, South Carolina General Election, 2002

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Republican

Lindsey Graham

54.4%

600,010

Democratic

Alex Sanders

44.2%

487,359

Libertarian

Victor Kocher

0.6%

6,648

Constitution

Ted Adams

0.7%

8,228

N/A

Write-In

0.1%

667

Total Votes

1,102,912

2000

On November 7, 2000, Lindsey O. Graham won re-election to the United States House. He defeated George Brightharp (D), Adrian Banks (L) and LeRoy J. Klein (Natural Law) in the general election.[15]

U.S. House, South Carolina District 3 General Election, 2000

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Republican

Lindsey O. Grahamincumbent

68.5%

150,180

Democratic

George Brightharp

29.6%

64,917

Libertarian

Adrian Banks

1.4%

3,116

Natural Law

LeRoy J. Klein

0.5%

1,122

N/A

Write-in

0%

33

Total Votes

219,368

1998

On November 3, 1998, Lindsey Graham won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Write-In in the general election.[16]

U.S. House, South Carolina District 3 General Election, 1998

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Republican

Lindsey Grahamincumbent

99.7%

129,047

N/A

Write-In

0.3%

402

Total Votes

129,449

1996

On November 5, 1996, Lindsey Graham won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Debbie Dorn (D) and Lindal Pennnington (T) in the general election.[17]

U.S. House, South Carolina District 3 General Election, 1996

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Republican

Lindsey Grahamincumbent

60.3%

114,273

Democratic

Debbie Dorn

38.7%

73,417

Natural Law

Lindal Pennnington

1%

1,835

Total Votes

189,525

1994

On November 8, 1994, Lindsey Graham won election to the United States House. He defeated James Bryan, Jr. (D) and Write-In in the general election.[18]

U.S. House, South Carolina District 3 General Election, 1994

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Republican

Lindsey Graham

60.1%

90,123

Democratic

James Bryan, Jr.

39.9%

59,932

N/A

Write-In

0%

13

Total Votes

150,068

2014

Graham ran for re-election in 2014. He faces a Republican primary challenge from Charleston businesswoman, Nancy Mace. Mace is the first woman graduate from South Carolina's military college, the Citadel. The primary will be held in July 2014.[19]

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Graham is available dating back to 2000. Based on available campaign finance records, Graham raised a total of $17,833,932 during that time period. This information was last updated on April 25, 2013.[20]

Lifetime voting record

According to the website GovTrack, Graham missed 113 of 3,253 roll call votes from January 2003 to April 2013. This amounts to 3.5%, which is worse than the median of 1.7% among current senators as of April 2013.[27]

Congressional staff salaries

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Graham paid his congressional staff a total of $2,593,274 in 2011. He ranks 14th on the list of the highest paid Republican senatorial staff salaries and ranks 53rd overall of the lowest paid Senatorial Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, South Carolina ranks 29th in average salary for senatorial staff. The average U.S. Senate congressional staff was paid $2,529,141.70 in fiscal year 2011.[28]

Net worth

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Graham's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $505,987 and $1,303,979. That averages to $904,983, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican Senators in 2011 of $6,358,668. His average net worth increased by 2.63% from 2010.[29]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Grahams's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $489,790 and $1,273,783. That averages to $881,786.50, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican Senators in 2010 of $7,054,258.[30]

National Journal vote ratings

2012

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Graham was 1 of 2 members who ranked 33rd in the conservative rankings in 2012.[31]